The two main factions in the Central African Republic’s inter-communal conflict have taken a tentative step towards ending violence that has killed thousands and forced more than a million people to flee their homes. The mainly Muslim ex-rebel Seleka coalition and the Christian militias known as anti-balaka set up a joint committee of six members each on 26 June to prepare for peace talks under the auspices of conflict-resolution group PARETO.
The committee represents a second step after the two sides held an initial meeting this month, according to Béni Kouyaté, vice-coordinator of PARETO. Few concrete details of the talks have emerged but both sides reportedly said they were optimistic they could lead to something substantial.
PALESTINIANS PARADE IN JERUSALEM TO WELCOME RAMADHAN
Palestinians marched on streets of East Jerusalem in traditional clothes late on 26 June in a festival to welcome the month of Ramadhan, when the faithful abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk. Hundreds of Palestinian Muslims attended the ceremony to mark the upcoming fasting month, marching from Salah ad-Din Street to the Damascus gate. Participants carried banners reading “God Bless Our Jerusalem, Show Respect Your Elderly, Love Your Children,” as they walked and sing traditional songs.
Anna Natch, one of the organisers and member of Ahy Al-Quds Club, said the purpose of the march is to show to the Israelis that Jerusalem is the land of Muslims. “We are the real residents of Jerusalem even though the Jewish people claim the opposite,” said Natch.
IVORY COAST PRESIDENT OFFERS FOOD, MONEY FOR RAMADHAN
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara has offered to contribute large quantities of rice and sugar – along with hard cash – to the nation’s Muslims ahead of the fasting month of Ramadhan. “It’s a traditional gesture that the president makes each year before Ramadhan,” government spokesman Kone Nabagné Bruno reportedly said on 24 June.
Ouattara, 72, who was elected president in 2011, is a practising Muslim, while his French-born wife, Dominique, is a Catholic. The president’s donation will include four tons of rice, four tons of sugar and $3000 in cash, which will be distributed to the less fortunate, especially widows and widowers, according to the Superior Counsel of Imams (COSIM), the country’s main Islamic association.
CRIMEA DECLARES EID AS OFFICIAL HOLIDAY
Crimea has declared the Muslim festival of Eid an official holiday during a session of the Crimean Parliament on 25 June. The move is likely to appease Crimea’s native Tatar community, who make up around 13% of the overall population with a 300,000-strong community.
As Muslims, they celebrate two Eid festivals every year, one being to mark the end of the month of Ramadhan, and the other to signify the end of the Hajj pilgrimage season. Seventy-two lawmakers voted in favour of the move, as well as supporting the Orthodox Easter and Trinity also being declared official holidays.